Rat Attack!

Last night when Jennifer and I were leaving to get some dinner, she backed the van out of the garage while I stood at the garage door to activate the alarm.  A fast moving object near the ditch caught my eye which was heading straight towards me; I jumped out of the way just before it got to me.  A huge rat ran past, and would have possibly run across my feet had I not jumped out of the way.  He or she ran to the back of the part of the garage where we park our daily drivers, made a sliding right turn to head towards the “Corvette side” of the garage and bolted into the darkness.  This is the first time that one of the rats has been this bold.  It definitely wanted to get inside the garage before the last door was closed.  This tells me that it does not have a “secret” way into the garage, but are moving in and out when one of the 3 doors is open.

Later, I texted both of our kids about this and our daughter said she thinks that for a rat to be that bold, it may mean there are baby rats in a nest somewhere in the garage.  That made sense to me.  On our way home last night, we stopped to pick up a fresh set of batteries for the Rat Zapper.  This morning I went out to check the trap, but no rat.  The bait was still there which tells me it did not approach the trap.  Many times the bait around the trap will be gone, but the bait inside will still be there.  The war continues!! 

I worked on the VW Bug yesterday; I replaced the spark plug wires that had been chewed up by rats.  Fortunately plug wires for an old Beetle are not that expensive.  I tried to start the engine, but it ran only the length of time for the gas I poured into the carburetor.  I pulled the fuel line leading into the carb and cranked the engine to see if any gas was being delivered.  Just a few drops came from the line.  I am pretty sure I need to replace the fuel pump.  When I do replace the pump, I plan to replace all the flex fuel lines and filter.